Side bearing for railway cars



Dec. 25,'1928. 1,696,318

J. F. OoNNOR R SIDE BEARING RoR RAILWAY GARS Fi1ed.Apri1 5, 1924 Fg/ Patented Dec. `25, 192s.

, UNITED STATES PATENTK OFFICE.

JoHN I'. OCoNNoR, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs'AssIGNon, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To`

w. n.1MINI1R, INC., AACoRPoRATIoN 0F DELAWARE. Y

SIDE BEARING Fon RAILWAY CARS. l

" Apblieation filed Aprii a, 1924.. serial No. 703,900. i

ments are employed which are; automatically returned to theiriiorrnal position after being actuated, this returning movement being solely under theiniuence of gravity and Y without the aid of extraneous devices, tothe end that the anti-friction bearing 1s always in condition to operate'for its full intended movement. f

More specifically,` an object of the invention is to provide an anti-friction bearing employing at leasttwo rocking anti-friction elements, each l'ofA which is normally positioned at one extreme end` of its pathof movement, said elements'being oppositely disposed so that one elementwill always be available for operation regardless ofthe direction in which the side bearin g is actuated, and whereby said elementsl may be made automatically self'returningundcrtheinfluence of gravity without the aidof springs o1" the like. By arranfing the anti-friction elements in alinement tlongitudinally of the bearing surface, I am enabled touse elements having ai relatively wide bearinof surface so that there will be no likelih od o? crushing or otherwise injuring the elements under load.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will more clearly appear from thede` scription and claims hereinafter following. In the drawing `forming `a .part otthi's specification, Figure), isa vertical sectional view taken through the ends of the body and `truck holsters of a railway car, showing my improvements in Connectionl therewith. Fig- `ure 2 is a top plan viewv of thel side bearing.

And Figure 3 is a vertical sec-tionalf-view taken substantially on the line 3;?,` of Fig# ure 1.

' In said drawing,-1Q denotes the. upper side of.k a truck holster of a railway car and 1.1 the under portion of the. bolsterop- Referring' to `the drawing, the improved Y side bearing is shown as applied to the truck bolster and comprises, broadly, a` base cast`` ing, housing or retaining member Aya pair of antidriction elements orrockers B-B; and a bearing plate C.

The housing A is more or less boX-like in form, comprisingvertical end walls 12 and vertical side walls 13 having laterally offset recessed portions 14 therein; A wear member or bearing plate vC is adapted to be interposed between the housing and the truck bolster, said bearing plate extending beyond the housing as at l5, and said housing and wear member being connected' by rivets. 16 as shown. Rivets, 17 may be used forse'curing the bearing plate C tothe truck bolster. The side walls 13 of thehousing may be provided with openings 18 therethrough at their lower ends for the removal'otl dirt, cinders or other foreign matter. Tlietop and bottom of the housing are open andtheantifriction rocker elements B are arranged in longitudinal aliner'nenttherein so as to roc-k toward one anothery and project through the open top of the housing. j y

These elements B, which are of like size and shape, are arranged inalinement longtudinally of the housing, each havingtrunnions 24 projecting outwardly A from both sides of the elements and adapted to extend in therecesses 14 to prevent the elements from being lifted outwardly through the topfof the housing. Each element B hasmutually divergent end faces 19 and 20, the latter`face having a large recess'` or cutout 21 therein. The bottom bearing face of each element is rounded or made arcuate toward one end, as indicated at 22 and the'remainder of said bottom face is fiat and tangential to this curved portion'so asto normally lie `fiat on the bearing plate C, as indicated at 23. The top of each elementis provided with twolat faces 25 and 26, the formersubstantially parallel to the flat portion 23 of the bottom bearing face of the element, so thatvwhen the 4elements are in theirA normal position att'he opposite ends of the,` housing, the en d walls 19 will :lie aga-instthe verticalI endwalls 12 of the housing, and the flat faces 23 and25 will be horizontal, in-which position the upper flat faces 25 may receive any pounding from the opposed bodybolster, without caus ing injury to thel rockers or tothe bearing plate. Thev end faces 20 are inclined so that they mutually diverge as they extend upwardly from thebearing plate, the lower' ends of said faces being closely adjacent one another when the rockers are in their normal unloaded position. Thus there will be substantially no shifting of the rockers longitudinally of the bearing plate and the rockers will always be in position for full travel.

On approaching movement of the holsters, the engagement of the rocker element by both the upperand the lower bearing plates will cause an actuation of one of the elements in one direction and upon removal of the pressure, said actuated rocker will return, through gravity, to normal position.

The operation of the bearing is as follows, assuming that the loaded bolster 1l is moved to the right relatively of the bolster 10. The anti-friction elements, being in their normal position at their opposite ends of the housing and lying again st the vertical end Walls thereof, the bolster 11 will engage the horizontal tops 25 of both the elements, but inasmuch as one of them is necessarily at its limit of movement in the direction in which the bolster 1l is moving, that element will remain stationary while the other element is free to rock about its arcuate bearing face 22, relatively toward the stationary element and Will therefore take the load, rocking or tilting until the end face 20 abuts against the correspondingopposed face Q0 of the adjacent element, at Whichtime the flat` face 26 of the element that has been actuated is at a level above the top of the stationary element and is horizontal so that it takes the load over its full bearing area and `permits the bolster 11 to slide thereon. As soon as the load is released, the roller which has been actuated or rocked, will automatically return under the influence of gravity to its normal positon, resting against the end of the housing. As the loaded bolster is moved in the reverse direction to that just described, that element B which formerly moved will remain fixed while the other element which formerly remained stationary will take the load and rock toward the stationary element.

- Thus it is seen that the elements will normally be retained at the opposite end of the hrnising'and when the body bolster moves in one direction under load. only one of the rocker elements will take the load to the end of its travel.

As hereinbefore pointed out, it will he noted that at the end of rocking movement, the actuated element will be in such a position that its end face is in close proximity to `or abats against the opposed end face of the cooperating element and a flat portion of its upper bearing j face will be substantially parallel to and engaged by the upper bolster, and should the length of the relative movement of the bolsterfbe sufficient to bring the rocker element toits extremeposition, then upon furthermovement in the same direction, the upper bolster may slide upon the flat face 26.

I have herein shown and described what 4l now consider the preferred manner of carryving out my invention but the same is merely illustrative and I` contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

l. In an anti-friction hearing, the combination with a retainer provided with a continuous bearing surface and end Walls; of a plurality of self-centering rocking members each provided with opposite bearing faces, the faces of said rocking members adjacent said bearing surface being disposed 1n cngagement therewith, said rocking members being constructed to permit relative movement of the rocking members, said end walls serving to limit movement of said rockers in a direction away from each other, the hearing faces of said rocking elements in engagement with said bearing surface being curved in opposite directions and soconstructed whereby movement of one of said rocking elements toward another effects projection of the bearing face of the element remote from the bearing surface beyond the remote bearing face of the adjacent element.

2. In an anti-friction bearing for railway cars, the combination with a retaining member adapted to be secured to a truck holster and having a horizontal bearing surface therein; of a pair of rockers arranged at opposite ends in said retaining member, only one of said rockers taking the load and moving toward the other when the bearing is actuated, said rockers having a lower bearing surface adapted to rock on" the ,hearing surface of the housing and having a flat upper bearing portion adapted to be parallel to the body bolster bearing surface and cngageablc thereby, when the rocker is actuated to its cxtreme position.

3. In an anti-friction vhearing for railway cars, the combination with a housing adapted to be secured tota bolster or the like; of a pair of rockers normally arranged at opposite ends of said housing and adapted to roel: on said bearing surface of the housing, only one of said rockers at a time taking the load and moving relatively of the other when the bearing is actuated, cach of said rockers having a fiat portion adapted to be parallel to the cooperating bolster when the rocker is atits normal position and also having a flat portion adapted to be parallel to said cooperating bolster when the rocker is rocked to cxtreme positon.

4. In an anti-friction bearing, the combination with a housing having a, horizontal bearing surface therein; of a pair ofrockers arranged in alinernent longitudinally of said bearing surface, said rockers when in normal position each having an end wall abutting an end Wall of said housing, the opposite ends of the rockers spaced closely to one another adjacent the housing bearing surface andinclined outwardly of said housing bearing surface, whereby one of said rockers may be v rocked until its inclined end face abuts the self-returning rockers arranged atl opposite ends of said housing and adapted to rock on said bearing surface, each of said rockers having a rounded bearing surface engageable on said bearing surface of the housing, and also having a port-ion of its outer bearing surface normally parallel to the bearing surface of the cooperating opposed bolster and having another portion of the outer bearing surface adapted to be parallel to the opposed bearing surface ofthe last-mentioned bolster when the rockeris at the. end of its rocking movement. n

6. In an anti-friction bearing for railway cars, the combination with a housing adapted to be secured to a truc-k bolster and having a horizontal bearing surface therein; of a. pair of self-returning rockers arranged at opposite ends of said housing, only one of said rockers taking the load and moving relative toward the other rocker when the bearing is actuated, each of said rockers having a Hat portion of its lower bearing surface normally bearing on said horizontal bearing surface,

and having thefother portion rounded toward one end, each rocker also having a pair of flat portions on its upper side, one of said n last-mentioned upper portions being horizontal when the rocker is in its normal posi tion and the. other being hofiZont-al When the rocker is moved to the limit of its rocking movement.

7. In an anti-friction bearing of the character described, comprising a retainer adapted to be supported upon a bolster and provided With side and end Walls, and a. bearing plate; of a plurality of rockers mounted on said bearing plate, said rockers being Weight# ed to maintain the same in predetermined p0- sition, and having opposite bearing faces, one set of `which is disposed in engagement with said bearing surface, while the remaining bearing faces project outwardly beyond the free extremities ofthe Walls of said retainers, said rocking members being formed to permit relative movement one toward the other, and to effect projection of the remote bear- .ing face of one of said members, beyond the other during movement toward each other, t-he end Walls of said retainer serving to limit movement of said rockers in a direction away from each other, whereby independent move-` ment of one of said members with respect to the other is effected, depending upony the di` rection ,of movement` of the bolster with which the remote bearing faces are engaged.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 1st day of April, 1924. i JOHN F. OCONNOR. 

